Crackdowns regular but illegal gambling rampant

As many as 59 instances of gambling activities were detected in Bengaluru in 2018.

BENGALURU: Illegal gambling hides in plain sight, and is rampant in the city despite regular raids by the police.

Gambling is usually carried out either at registered clubs or at homes. As per law, games of skill are allowed but games of chance are not. DCP (crime) Kuldeep Jain, who is in charge of the Special Inquiries Wing of the Central Crime Branch, said many outlets bend the rules and allow games of chance too.

“Clubs allow only members to enter. So it becomes difficult for us to detect what is going on inside,” the DCP said. Police are therefore dependent on informants to get information to conduct raids. Jain said the informers – on whose inputs raids are conducted – are usually those who felt cheated at a game, or a well-meaning citizen.

As many as 59 instances of gambling activities were detected in Bengaluru in 2018. The raids do not, however, appear to have reduced the activities. A total of 40 cases have already been detected till September this year, indicating a detection rate similar to the one in 2018. In the raids conducted in the past one month, amounts between ?1 lakh and ?1.5 lakh have been seized from gambling dens. Card games were being played at most places, and the police also found illegal cricket betting going on in 2-3 places.

A CCB official said there is no particular area where gambling is more prevalent. The past three raids conducted by the CCB have been at Kathriguppe (August 23), Jeevan Bima Nagar (August 25) and Kalasipalyam (September 4).

Legalising gambling has been up for debate for long. Jain said that in countries where it was legal, payments are made in advance to play a game. “But here, it is very common for people to play on credit. Such things lead to serious personal problems for the players,” he said.

As per a published article co-authored by Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma of Nimhans’ SHUT Clinic in 2018, a survey was conducted among 2,755 subjects in the age range of 18-65 years from an urban locality in East Bengaluru. About 1.2% of male respondents admitted to gambling.